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| Utley taking grounders at 3B yesterday. |
Chase Utley to 3B? It is the position he broke into baseball at, but why would the 5 time 2B All Star want to make the shift? The reason is the Phillies are thin at nearly every position. With Polanco hitting free agency this winter, trading away their entire outfield over the last couple of years, and numerous injuries which have left the Phillies looking at every possibility on the defensive side. That is why he took grounders at 3B yesterday.
So does Utley gain value with 3B eligibility? The position flexibility is nice but Utley will be drafted again as a 2B. His current stats over the last 30 days rank him the 10th best 2B over that span. His slash line of 4HR, 12RBI, 3SB, and a .273 average is decent for a 2B but as a 3B he would rank near 20th during that duration. With bad knees and aging Utley may never be another 20/20 guy again but he still holds value at a thin 2B…At 3B he is less than average. If he did make the move to 3B it would only be until Double A star Cody Asche is ready. That probably isn’t until 2014. What I could see is that Utley move to LF at the tail end of his career if he still can continue to produce some power.
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